


Keep Me Warm

by Pheylan



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-10
Updated: 2013-04-10
Packaged: 2017-12-08 01:13:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/755258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pheylan/pseuds/Pheylan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers hates the cold.  But he loves being an Avenger.  And he likes Tony Stark more than he wants to admit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keep Me Warm

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Cluegirl for being a very picky beta.

_Don’t panic! Don’t panic! Don’t panic!_ The plane tore into the ice, breaking through to the water beneath.  At impact Capt. Steve Rogers’ head slammed forward onto the steering column hard enough to daze him.  As he tried to shake it off, gallons of icy sea water poured into the cockpit.  He struggled to stand, but slipped and went under instead.  The shock of the cold made him gasp which allowed the water to get into –

Steve woke up coughing non-existent saltwater from his lungs.  _Just a dream. Don’t panic!_ He opened his eyes and his brain seized up.  Snow.  Big whirling flakes of snow coming down and sticking to the glass in front of him.

“Are you all right, Captain Rogers?” Jarvis’ soothing voice sounded in his ears.

Steve whimpered and fell back into his bed, pulling up the heavy quilt to his chin.  The back of his mind registered that he was in his apartment in Stark Tower.  It was mid-December and they were having their first snowstorm of the year, just like the weatherman had predicted on the news the night before.  There was absolutely no reason to panic.  He just needed to close his eyes and take a deep breath and get over it.

“Captain Rogers?” Jarvis sounded concerned this time.

While the back of Steve’s mind was being perfectly logical, the front of his mind was locked up in fear.  Tony Stark had put him in a corner apartment.  Normally he loved having two glass walls in his bedroom, but not this morning.  He whimpered again and pulled the quilt tighter about him.  His body was shivering now and he couldn’t make it stop any more than he could pull his eyes away from the snow that was building up on the ledge a few feet from himself. 

“Holy Hell, it’s hot in here.”  Steve recognized Tony’s voice coming from his living room.  “Jarvis, you want to bring the temp down to something reasonable?” By the end of the sentence Tony was standing in the doorway to Steve’s room.  “Hey, Cap.  You okay?”

“Cold.” Steve managed to croak out.  He still couldn’t take his eyes off the snow or stop his shivering. 

“Uh-huh.  Jarvis, close the curtains,” Tony said.  He walked up beside the bed.  “Were you having a nightmare?”

Steve nodded.  The curtains had slid quietly across the wall blocking the view and allowing him to finally look up at Tony.  “Cold,” he repeated.

Tony frowned at him a moment and then tugged at the quilt that Steve was still clutching.  “It’s okay, Capsicle,” he said quietly sliding into bed with the larger man, “Let me warm you up.” 

Steve ignored the stupid nickname for a change and allowed Tony to pull him into a warm embrace.  He buried his face in Tony’s shoulder and concentrated on evening out his breathing.

“Man, you’re a furnace right now,” Tony said companionably.  “Can you stop shivering?  You’re going to singe me.” Tony started stroking his hair.  “Come on.  You’re not really cold.  You need to convince your body of that before it fries your brain.”

Steve finally managed to stop the shivers under Tony’s gentle touch and friendly babble, but it still took a while to shake the last of the panic.

“So, why were you sleeping with your curtains open?” Tony asked pushing the quilt down a bit.

“I like waking up to watch the sunrise.” Steve shivered slightly again when the cooler air in the room hit his sweat covered torso.

“As in waking up _before_ sunrise?” Tony shook his head.  “You morning people are weird.  Okay, Jarvis, new rule:  if it starts snowing during the night, close Captain Rogers’ curtains.”

“Yes, Mr. Stark.”

Steve smiled and sat up slowly.  Tony let go of him as soon as he started moving.  “It would have been okay, if I hadn’t been having a nightmare,” he explained.  “It was just that I was dreaming about the crash and…” he trailed off while gesturing vaguely at the curtained wall.

Tony sat up next to him and nodded.  “Still, better safe than sorry.  Jarvis the order stands.”  Tony got out of bed accidentally pulling the quilt further down into Steve’s lap.  Steve looked up at him to see a silly grin spread across his face.  “So, Cap.  You always sleep naked?”

“Uh, yeah.” Steve realized his ass was exposed in all its super soldier glory.  He blushed as he tugged the quilt back around to cover it. “It…just…yeah.”

Tony laughed.  “Nothing to be ashamed of there, Cap.  In fact, I may add it to your bio on the website.”  He turned to leave the room.  “You keep coffee in this place?  I think you owe me a whole pot of coffee for getting me up early.”

***

Steve tugged the turtleneck sweater on as he followed the scent of coffee and bacon.  Apparently Tony had been busy while Steve showered. In the kitchen he found Tony dicing up vegetables.  “You can cook?” he asked reaching for a piece of the bacon.

“Sure,” Tony replied, slapping his hand away.  “Not yet, that’s for the scramble.”  He went back to chopping.  “Because Pepper said I’d never be able to learn and I had to prove her wrong.”

Steve laughed.  “I figured you’d rather pay people to feed you.”

“Sometimes,” Tony shrugged and put down the knife.  “But I don’t really like having live in help.  With my weird hours, a cook has to be there 24/7.”  He watched Steve prepping his coffee before turning back to start cracking eggs into a bowl.  “Have a little coffee with your sugar?”

Steve laughed.  “I need the calories.”  He turned and leaned against the counter as he sipped his coffee.  It was then that he realized that Tony was only wearing sleep pants and a t-shirt.  He hadn’t even stopped for slippers. 

“Uhm.  Sorry about getting you up early,” Steve said sheepishly. 

“No apologizing,” Tony stated, looking Steve in the eye.  “You’re the Captain and we need you sane.  If that means I have to get up early every once in a while to close your curtains, then I’ll get up early and close your damn curtains.”  Tony turned back to his cooking.  “Besides, I got to see your naked ass, so, you know, score for me there.”

Steve blushed and looked the other way, which left him facing the kitchen window.  The snow was still coming down in big fluffy clumps, but now that he was awake it was okay.  He had lived most of his life in New York – at least the not-frozen-in-an-iceberg part of his life – so, he was used to the winters here.  He definitely didn’t like being cold, but that could be as much from the two winters he’d spent in Europe during the War as from the 70 year sleep.

“You still okay, Cap?”

“Huh?  Yeah.” Steve turned back to Tony.  “Just thinking.”  He watched Tony dump the eggs, bacon bits and veggies into his largest frying pan.  He took another sip of his coffee before putting the cup on the counter so he could get out plates and forks. 

“How often are you having nightmares now?” Tony asked casually.

Steve made a face as he put the plates within Tony’s reach.  “You’re not my psychiatrist, Tony.”

“No, I’m your friend and co-hero who wants you to be okay,” Tony replied. “Besides, Fury said you stopped seeing the shrink shortly before you informed him that you were moving out of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s barracks.  Something about shoving the guy through a wall.”

Steve snorted.  He didn’t like the idea of Fury discussing his mental health with his friends. “If I’d actually done that, I’d have been locked up.  I merely implied that I might be thinking that it would be therapeutic to shove him through a wall.”  He accepted the heaping plate of scrambled eggs and veggies from Tony and took that along with his coffee to the small table by the window.  Tony sat down across from him with a considerably less laden plate.

“So?” Tony let the syllable hang in the air.

Steve sighed.  Tony was a bulldog when he wanted to know something.  “Only a couple of times a month now.  Usually, when something triggers it, like getting cold during the night.”

“You couldn’t have been cold last night,” Tony observed.  “The temperature in here had to be in the upper 80s when I came in.”

"Just 80.” Steve corrected.  “No, I think it was the movie last night.  I enjoyed it at the time, but horror movies that take place in the Antarctic should probably be on my Do Not Watch list.”

“Noted.  Jarvis, mark all versions of ‘The Thing’ and anything similar as Not on Movie Night.”

“Yes, Mr. Stark.”

Steve dug into his breakfast.  “Mmmm!” He chewed and swallowed before adding “This is really good!”

“Thank you,” Tony smirked.  “I’m going to make someone a good wife someday.”

Steve laughed around his second bite.  “Will you wear high heels and frilly underthings, too?”

“Was that a joke?!” Tony exclaimed.  “When did you get a sense of humor?”

Steve made a face at him over his coffee cup.  “I’ve got a great sense of humor.  You’re just too wrapped up in being the clever one to acknowledge it.”

“Huh!” Tony chewed on his breakfast for a moment.  A wicked gleam came into his eye and he grinned.  “Have you been exposed to ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ yet?”

“No-o.”  Steve knew Tony well enough to know that the look on his face was a big warning sign.  He was about to be embarrassed or angry or both.  “Is this something I really want to be exposed to?”

“Probably not,” Tony said pulling out his smartphone.  “Jarvis, do we have any pictures of the Halloween party from…’87?  The Rocky Horror Party?” He looked back up at Steve. “The movie is a musical science fiction parody.  One of the major characters is a sweet transvestite.  You know what a transvestite is?”

“Yeah,” Steve replied.  This was going to be an embarrassing moment, he just knew.

Tony looked back down at the phone.  “Here we go,” he said handing it to Steve.  “That’s me as Dr. Frankenfurter.”

Steve reluctantly took the phone and looked at the photo.  He could feel the blood rush to his face as he blushed.  Here was a much younger Tony Stark wearing high heels, hose, and lingerie.  And wearing it quite well.

“Well,” he managed to choke out.  “That’s…uh…” he cleared his throat and handed the phone back to Tony who was looking terribly pleased with himself.  “You…uh…have nice legs.”

“Thank you,” Tony preened.  “I learned a little respect for chicks with that one.  Shaving your legs is a pain and I think I lost the heels about halfway through the night.”  He looked at the photo.  “But they did make my ass look sweet.”

Steve nearly aspirated his coffee.  “Yeah,” he muttered when he could speak again.

Tony laughed.  “Why are you embarrassed?  I’m the one dressed for a burlesque show.”

“And how many people have you actually shown that photo to?”  Steve asked before occupying himself with his breakfast.

Tony snorted.  “It’s not like you can’t find it on the internet.  Let’s see…” He typed something into his phone and then scrolled.  “Yep, several of them…Oh, hey!  I haven’t seen that one before.  Save it, Jarvis.”  He turned the phone to Steve, who couldn’t help but look.  Tony – without the heels – was clinging to some blonde body builder wearing gold shorts.  “We had six Rockys show up.  He was the cutest.”

Steve closed his eyes and then opened them slowly to look at Tony.  “If I have another nightmare tonight, because you traumatized me, I’m going to shove _you_ through a wall.”  He bent over his plate and steadily put away the last of the eggs.  Because he really did _not_ want to think about how sexy Tony looked in that outfit and he most _certainly_ didn’t feel a twinge of jealously for the ‘Rocky’ in the picture.

“You know, you’d make a great Rocky,” Tony said forking up the last of his eggs.

“ _Tony!_ ”  He was quite sure the blush was back and probably brighter than it had been initially.

Tony chuckled and waggled his eyebrows at Steve. 

“Mr. Stark,” Jarvis’ voice cut in.  “May I remind you that you have a shareholders meeting in slightly over an hour.  You may want to get dressed.”

“Do I have to?” Tony whined.  “Pepper can handle it.  She knows more about it than I do.”

“Don’t whine,” Steve said relieved that something was going to distract Tony from pursuing the subject.  “You’re a grown man.  It doesn’t suit you.”  He picked up the empty plates to put in the sink.

Tony made a face at him.  “Yes, Captain Mom.”  He got up reluctantly and headed towards the door.  “But I’m thinking the New Year’s Eve party is going to be costumed this year.”

***

Steve clicked off the TV set and blew out a breath.  Yes, his decision to watch “Rocky Horror” in the privacy of his own apartment was a wise one.  He’d managed to get all the way through it, but just barely.  He sat staring at the blank TV trying to parse out his reaction to the movie.  Because at the moment he was sporting a rather painful erection and a deep blush at the same time and he probably shouldn’t have enough blood to do both.   He was just going to have to finally admit to himself something that he had been trying to deny since shortly after he’d come out of the Vita-Ray machine.  He liked guys now, too. 

It was definitely “too”.  His crush on Peggy Carter was not at all innocent, even if he never acted on it more than to draw a few pictures that would probably have her pulling a gun on him again.  But there was also a tendency to watch the guys around him with more than just an artistic eye.  When you’re a soldier living in a war zone, there was no privacy, so he’d had a lot of time to study the male form. 

He shifted on the couch and thought it might be a good time for a cold shower.  The blush had gone away, but the erection was persistent.  The photos of Tony came up in his head again.  He sighed.  He really didn’t need to be sweet on Tony, but he also had to admit that he had been, just a little bit, ever since they fought together against the Chitauri.  Tony was arrogant at times and there was definitely a grating of personalities when they first met that had been only partially thanks to Loki.  But Tony was also smart and funny and terribly charming when he wanted to be. He’d give you the shirt off his back, if he thought you needed it.  And he had pretty eyes.  And good legs if they had aged as well as his face. 

Great.  Time for a shower, – a warm one – a handful of conditioner, and thoughts of Tony strutting across a stage singing “Sweet Transvestite”.  Because he knew Tony Stark well enough to know that if he was wearing the outfit, he also darned well took time to learn to strut in those heels. 

Steve had reached his bedroom door when the alarm went off.  He bolted across the room to his armor. 

“Avengers Assemble!  Jarvis, what’s the situation?”  As far as losing erections was concerned, battling Evil would work in a pinch.

***

Steve walked off the Quinjet in time to see Iron Man land on his pad and walk out of his armor.  Somewhere Tony pulled up enough energy to trot to the door.  Probably because, although it had stopped snowing, the temperature was still below freezing and Tony was only wearing his shirtsleeves and trousers. Steve followed him quickly, but then made himself stand and hold the door open for the rest of the team.  He didn’t like cold, but by golly, he wasn’t going to turn into an ass because of it.  Hulk got about halfway to the door and then sat down with a huff.  Steve relinquished the door to Thor and went over to pick up the now unconscious Bruce Banner from the icy landing.  As he walked in Natasha met him with a large afghan.  They wrapped up the scientist and then Steve deposited him in his favorite easy chair. 

“Here.”  Steve turned from the chair to find Tony there offering him a cup of hot chocolate. He took it gratefully and gulped down a good third of the cup despite the heat.

“You had time to make cocoa?” he asked Tony.

“Nah, Pepper had it ready for us,” Tony replied with a grin.  “She’s great like that.”

Steve smiled and nodded before taking a second much smaller gulp.   _And that,_ he told himself, _is another very good reason why you can’t be sweet on Tony._   He looked around the den to see his teammates checking each other for injuries. 

“How’s your arm?” Natasha asked him, looking concernedly at his left bicep.  Steve glanced at the nasty gash and shrugged.  “It’ll heal.  How are you?”

“Bruised ribs, but I’m good,” she said with a smile.

“Just bruised?  Jarvis – “

“Ms. Romanov has several bruises including the ribs, but no sign of cracking or breaks,” Jarvis assured Steve. 

“See?” she asked with a grin. “I bounce.  Don’t go mother hen on me.”

“I wouldn’t if – “

“Director Fury is calling,” Jarvis announced to a chorus of groans.  Steve sighed, handed Natasha his cup, and pulled his cowl back up before taking up a position in front of the TV.   It was easier to deal with Fury when he was in full Captain America mode. 

Fury’s face with scowl on high appeared on the screen.  Steve gripped his utility belt and took a deep breath.  “Director Fury.”

“Captain,” Fury started.  “Is there a good reason that you and your team destroyed the warehouse?”

“Yes.”  Steve stood silent after the one syllable.  After all, he had fully answered the question as stated. 

Fury’s scowl deepened.  He had quickly come to realize that while Steve could be a good soldier, he was definitely not going to allow anyone to bully him.  Least of all his supposed superiors.  “Do you even know what was in that warehouse?”

“It is not my job to know what the government stores in its buildings,” Steve said stoically.  “It is my job to keep giant killer robots from doing any more damage than necessary.  By destroying the warehouse around it we prevented it getting out and destroying much more property and perhaps endangering civilian lives.”  Besides, Tony – who knew exactly what was in that warehouse – assured him that they wouldn’t damage anything important by dropping the roof on the robot in question.

Fury sighed, which Steve counted as a win.  “You’re probably going to be called up by the Pentagon in the next couple of days.  They are not happy about the situation.”

“I understand,” Steve said.  “You might point out that we did stick around to prevent looting until the Marines were able to get in and secure their property.”

“Yeah.”  Fury’s mouth might have twitched up just a tad on one corner.  “Get some rest, Avengers.”  And the picture cut off.

“Well done,” Tony said coming up to Steve’s side.  “Now get out of the armor, so I can clean that cut.”

Steve stripped off gloves, cowl and jacket before taking a seat on the couch.  The cut would be fine without any treatment – the super serum made sure that Steve was immune to most infections – but he knew from way too much experience if the cut wasn’t cleaned out, it would itch like mad for a couple of days as the debris worked its way to the surface.  Tony pulled the wound wide and then poured alcohol directly in to flush it out.  Steve hissed through his teeth.

“Oh, don’t be a baby,” Tony teased.  “You never hear Natasha complain about pain.”

“That’s because she likes it,” Clint said.  He then added “Ow!” as the assassin in question punched him on the back of the head.

“Right,” Steve said.  “Someone check that Tasha didn’t give Clint a concussion.” 

“Did we win?” Bruce asked groggily as he sat up in his chair.

“Yes, you did,” Pepper said as she walked over to him with a mug of chocolate.

“We brought the house down,” Tony assured his science buddy.  He focused back on Steve.  “Do you want me to butterfly it or leave it open?”

Steve looked at his arm.  The gash was seeping slightly, but he knew it would stop in a few minutes. “It’s fine.  Thanks, Tony.”

Tony smiled at him.  “You gonna crash?”

“No, it’s not that bad,” Steve assured him.  “I am hungry, though.”

“Miss Potts, the pizza has arrived.”  Jarvis informed the room.

“That’s why I love this woman,” Tony crowed.  “She thinks of everything!”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed.  He smiled back at Tony despite the sudden clenching of his stomach.  “She’s a peach.”

***

Steve tossed the empty pizza box onto the pile sitting on the coffee table.  He yawned as he scooped his uniform pieces into his shield. “Think I need a nap,” he told the team as he stood up and turned toward the elevators.  Mumbles along the line of “sleep well” followed him as he walked away. 

Tony met him at the elevator.  “Are you going to be able to sleep okay?” he asked Steve with a concerned look on his face.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Steve assured him.  “I usually sleep best after a fight.”

“Okay,” Tony said breaking into a grin.  “I just wanted to make sure that we were cool after the pictures.”

“We’re cool, Tony.”  Steve smiled at his friend.  “I’m not going to shove you through a wall.  Today.”

Tony laughed as he turned back to the return to the den.

***

No, nightmare was definitely not the description for that dream.  Steve tossed his soiled sheets into the laundry chute.  He was slightly embarrassed, but figured any cleaning crew that worked for Tony Stark was used to that kind of mess.  He dug underwear and t-shirt out of the pile of discarded clothes on his bedroom floor and tried to remember the last time he’d actually had a wet dream.  Not that he didn’t have dreams about sex, because he _was_ a healthy male, but he normally woke up before he hit climax.  He pulled sweat pants out of his dresser thinking that a few rounds on the punching bags might help him deal with his suddenly overactive libido.   

Steve was about to leave the bedroom when he caught sight of his clothing again and was hit by some old fashioned guilt.  He took a few minutes to fold the sweater and khakis he’d been wearing that morning, toss the uniform pants and ruined jacket into the laundry chute and put his gloves, boots and shield into their cubby hole.  Satisfied that his mom wouldn’t yell at him from beyond the grave, he headed upstairs.

No one appeared to be in the gym, so he walked over to his workout corner.  “Appeared” was the operative word as halfway across the room a weight hit his back, staggering him slightly.  He reached behind him, grabbed an arm, ducked and threw the weight off himself.  Natasha twisted in midair landing on her feet and grinning.  However, Steve did notice the slight wince as she landed. 

“We are not sparring today,” Steve informed her.  “You’re bruised.”

“I can take it,” she replied, pulling up the sleeve of his t-shirt to reveal a jagged white streak.  She smiled at it.  “Pity you can’t scar.  That would leave a pretty mark.”

“Why would I want to have a scar?” Steve asked tugging the sleeve back in place.

“Makes you look bad ass.”  Natasha’s grin turned into a leer.

Steve couldn’t help himself.  He flexed and dropped into his captain’s voice.  “As if I’m not already bad...ass.”  He stopped flexing and laughed after tripping over the last word.  Despite what everyone thought, he wasn’t really offended by foul language, but he’d had his mouth washed out a few too many times by nuns to ever be comfortable using it.  “So, uh, what are you doing here?  I know you’re not up for your normal workout.”

Natasha shrugged.  “Doing yoga.  It centers me and pushes the pain back.”  She grinned up at him.  “Want to join me?”

 _Oh, heck no._   He’s seen her do yoga before.  While he felt that he might be limber enough, he was not up to watching her bend in the mood he was in.  “Nah, I’ll just stick to my regular work out.”

He had thought he’d kept his tone level, but Natasha’s eyebrow went up.  “Okay, girlfriend.  What’s up?”

“Nothing.” Steve turned and headed towards his punching bag.  Over the last few months, he and Natasha had gotten to be really good friends.  He was able to talk with her about his occasional bouts of PTSD and she had told him about her hush hush boyfriend.  But he really wasn’t ready to pour his heart out over this problem. 

He taped his hands up – more for the ritual of it than the need for protection – and turned to find her standing between him and the punching bag.

“What?” He asked frustration coloring his tone.

“You’ve got that look,” she replied.

“Which look is that?”

“The ‘oh, god I want to lose my virginity right now’ look.”  She smirked. “The offer still stands to help you with that.  If not me, I know at least two dozen girls and three guys at S.H.I.E.L.D. who would be more than willing.”

“Tasha…”  He still couldn’t remember how she’d managed to get the fact that he was a virgin out of him.  “I’m not interested in one of your so called ‘hook-ups’, _especially_ not with a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.  And I sure as heck don’t want to risk the wrath of your boyfriend by taking up your…offer.”

She rolled her eyes.  “I told you, he’s not a boyfriend, he’s a friend with benefits.”

“Whatever that means.”

“You didn’t look it up?” she asked with disbelief. “Friend with benefits: a really good friend, who you trust a lot and occasionally have sex with because it’s fun.  You know, like Tony and Pepper.” 

Steve started.  “Pepper is Tony’s girlfriend.”

“Well, she was,” Natasha looked at him funny.  “But between her flying all over the world running Tony’s company and his work as a crazy genius inventor and part time super hero, they decided that they weren’t really working as a couple.”

“But she sleeps with him when she’s here…”

“Yeah, when she’s here,” Natasha started grinning.  “She says the sex is phenomenal, so why not?”

“Oh.”  Steve’s brain was in a whirl.  Tony was technically single and apparently phenomenal in bed.  However, that didn’t stop the fact that Tony was a team mate.  How much _did_ that last part matter?

“It’s Pepper, isn’t it?” Natasha was bouncing on her toes like an excited kid.  A disconcerting thing coming from a deadly assassin.

“What’s Pepper?”

“Your super secret crush.  The one that you’ve had for several months, but still won’t tell me about.”

Steve sighed and looked Natasha in the eye.  “I do not have a crush on Pepper Potts.   Secret or otherwise.”

Natasha’s eyes widened.  “It’s _Tony?!_ ”

Steve automatically scanned the room hoping no one else had come in during their conversation.

“It _is_ Tony!” 

“No!”  But he knew as he said it that he’d given it away.  “Maybe.  Keep your voice down.”

“Oh, Steve, honey,” Natasha cooed.  “You really aim high, don’t you?  Good thing he thinks you’re hot.”

“I…what?  How do you know?”

“I’ve seen him look at your ass.  Especially in the uniform.  He definitely likes the uniform.”

Steve made an incoherent sound and then sat abruptly on the floor.  He pulled his knees up and bent his neck to rest his head on them.  The world seemed to be moving in directions that he couldn’t begin to comprehend.

“Steve?” Natasha sat down next to him.  “We’re not having an attack, are we?”

He managed to mumble a no. 

“So, shall we map out a plan for the seduction of Tony Stark?”

“Tasha…” He lifted his head and looked at her.  “I can’t…I mean…he’s a team mate!”

“So?” she asked with a shrug.  “Sometimes team mates make the best sex partners.  You know they have you best interests at heart, because it’s theirs too.”

Steve looked away from her.  “I can’t,” he whispered.

“Steve, why do you want to be miserable?” Natasha asked fondly stroking his arm.

“I’m not miserable,” Steve mumbled.  It was a lie and they both knew it.

Natasha sighed.  “Okay.  I’ll let it drop for now, but if you decide you want to pursue him, I’ll be right there with all the help you need.”  She patted his shoulder.  “Break your punching bag.  You’ll feel better.”

***

Steve typed in his payment information and hit submit.  With that he had finally finished his Christmas shopping.  He was rather tickled because he’d actually found the perfect present for Tony and it was in his admittedly rather limited price range.  A t-shirt with the words “Engineering: It’s like math but louder” superimposed over a drawing of an explosion. 

He shut off the computer and stretched.  A glance out the living room window (okay, glass wall) to his left revealed that it had begun snowing again.  He frowned and debated what to do next.  He’d pretty much been keeping to his apartment for the last couple of days.  Granted, when Natasha called to check on him, he legitimately told her he was working on Christmas presents, but he knew that was just an excuse. 

Steve got up and looked about the room.  He could read or watch TV or repaint his shield or…or he could get off his ass and go find someone to socialize with before he moped himself into another depression.  He pulled his phone out and buzzed Natasha, but hung up when he got her voicemail.

“Jarvis, where’s Natasha?”

“Ms. Romanov and Ms. Potts are out shopping.”

“Ah.  What is everyone else doing?”

“Mr. Stark is in the garage working his new Ferrari.  Mr. Barton is out.  Dr. Banner is on the phone with Dr. Ross and Mr. Odinson is…occupied with Dr. Foster.”

Steve grinned.  “Do you think Mr. Stark would mind company?”

“Mr. Stark would probably enjoy your company.  However, you may want to change into something that you don’t mind getting dirty.  He’s cleaning the engine and would most likely request your assistance.”

***

The parking garage was located under Stark Tower.  The very lowest level was reserved for Avenger use only and half of that was occupied by Tony’s cars (currently 6 working and 3 in various stages of repair).  The “new” Ferrari was actually an antique that someone had found in a barn on some inherited property where it had obviously been in storage for years.  Tony bought it with the idea that if he couldn’t make it run, he could use it for parts.

Steve dressed in an old t-shirt and jeans followed the sound of heavy metal music. He found Tony peering through a large lighted magnifying glass at a piece of steel which probably came out of the partially disassembled engine that occupied the workbench. 

“Is it worth the price you paid for it?” he asked over the electric guitar.

Tony didn’t look up, but he did grin.  “Oh, yeah. – Jarvis, turn the music down. – Whoever put this in that barn had planned on long term storage.  It’s filthy, but there is surprisingly little rust.”  He put the part on the bench and looked up at Steve.  “It’s going to take a lot of cleaning, but I’m betting I can have this baby running by spring.”

“Provided you don’t get distracted by another pretty toy,” Steve said with a smirk. 

“I really don’t have ADD, you know,” Tony complained.  “I actually do finish most of the projects I start.  I mean, a good 55% or so.  Yeah, at least.”  He looked Steve over and his smile came back.  “Did you come to help?  Because you look like you’re ready to get dirty and I’m just the guy to get you there.”

They stretched out a tarp on the floor and placed two buckets on it.  Solvent went into both buckets and Tony dumped a handful of the engine parts into one of them to soak.  He then pulled a duct down from the ceiling to vent the fumes from the solvent out of the garage.  The two of them sat on either side of the bucket of parts wearing rubber gloves and wielding toothbrushes.  Each selected a hunk of metal and started scrubbing.  The second bucket was for rinsing and the parts would then be laid out on the tarp to dry. 

“So, where have you been hiding?” Tony asked as he worked.

“Haven’t been hiding.  I was shopping,” Steve explained. 

“Are we really going to do the whole tree and presents thing?”

“Are you going to tell Thor no?” Steve looked up at Tony and grinned.  “Because he’s liable to be a bit…disappointed.”

“Oh, yeah.” Tony scrubbed away for a moment.  “So what did you get me?”

“You’ll find out on Christmas morning, barring us having to save the world.  If we do, then you’ll get it later.”

Tony snorted.  “You bought it on my computer network.  I can find out, you know.”

Steve stopped cleaning and just looked at Tony.  Tony glanced up at him and then looked back at his work.  “That is, I could find out if Pepper hadn’t forced me to add a subroutine to Jarvis to keep him from letting me spy on what people are buying on my network,” he mumbled.

Steve chuckled and went back to work. 

“So what did you get everyone else?” Tony asked innocently.

“I’m not telling you.”

“Why not?”

Steve stopped and looked at Tony again.  “Because, if I tell you what I bought, then you’ll use the information to extrapolate what websites I went to.  Then you’ll go to the sites, look everything over and narrow things down to a couple of likely presents and probably announce what’s in the box before you open it on Christmas morning.”

Tony looked up openmouthed at Steve.  “Stop that,” he finally said pointing his toothbrush at Steve.  “No one is allowed to read my mind except Pepper and she’s only allowed to read it enough to make my life run smoothly.  So.  Stay out of my head.”

Steve grinned at him smugly and bent back over his piece of engine.  They worked in companionable quiet for a bit.  Well relative quiet, because Tony had trouble disengaging his mouth and was singing softly along to the music as he worked. Steve was pleasantly surprised to find that Tony had a nice singing voice.  The song ended and slightly familiar music followed it.  The lyrics started and Steve realized where he’d heard it before – it was “Sweet Transvestite” from the movie.  He felt himself blushing, but when he looked at Tony he was relieved to find the inventor was oblivious. 

Steve didn’t stop cleaning, but he did slow a bit as he took advantage of the oblivion to study Tony.  His hair was sticking in all directions as it normally did when Tony was working.  He had a large smear of grime almost like a swath of blush along one cheek.  He was totally relaxed and looked incredibly happy.

“Why are you staring at me?” Tony asked, his eyes never coming up from the piece he was cleaning.

Okay, not so oblivious.  “Uh…it’s kinda silly.”  Steve concentrated on his work again.

“So?”

Steve stopped working and looked up at Tony again.  “It’s just…you’re very real right now.”

Tony glanced up at Steve.  “Yep.  That’s silly.  What makes me not ‘very real’ at other times?”

“Uhm…” Steve tried to collect his thoughts enough to explain.  Slowly he said, “I know you grew up in the spotlight – I knew your dad well enough to get that.”  He hurried on at the look on Tony’s face.  “So, you developed this larger than life persona to keep people at arm’s length.  And I know that for a while, that was all you could let anybody see.  But when you’re fixing things or…or problem solving then you let that persona drop.  So, here with your cars or in the lab or helping me plan strategy to take out the bad guys or” he chuckled depreciatingly “closing the curtains for your crazy captain I get to see that real guy.  And I feel rather privileged about it, because I know that not many people get to see him…you.”

Tony looked up at Steve for what felt like forever.  He then looked back at the piece in his hands.  “My captain’s not crazy, just high strung at times.”

“Okay.”  Surely that couldn’t have been embarrassment that he saw in Tony’s eyes.  Steve rinsed the part he’d been working on and placed it on the tarp. 

As he started to reach for a new piece, Tony asked, “So, why were you blushing?”

“I wasn’t blushing,” Steve mumbled looking over the ring of metal he’d pulled out of the bucket.

“Yes, you were.  You did when…oh!  Did you watch the movie?”  Tony’s grin leaned towards mad scientist levels.

“Yeah.”  And the blush was back in spades.

“What did you think?”

“Is this rust?”  Steve held the ring out for Tony’s inspection.  “Should I bother cleaning it?”

Tony laughed and looked at the part.  “Slightly rusted.  Go ahead and clean it so I can see how much it’s damaged.”

Thankfully Tony allowed the topic of the movie to be dropped and they went back to scrubbing engine bits.  The first batch was cleaned and Tony was carefully disposing of the used solvent when Pepper’s car returned.  Pepper and Natasha then press ganged them into helping haul presents – once Natasha made sure that Steve’s was buried at the bottom of a bag. 

“So, you and Tony have a nice time bonding?” Natasha asked with a smirk as she let Steve into her surprisingly feminine apartment.

“Yeah.”  Steve deposited the bags on her coffee table.  “It was nice.”

She gave him a look and waited.

“What?” he asked a bit petulantly.

“What?” she repeated in the same tone.  “You were just hanging out with your buddy Tony while wearing an old undershirt with strategic holes in it.”  She poked his abdomen to prove her point.

“Those are napalm burns,” Steve insisted.  “I think you remember how I got them considering how much cursing you did while patching me up.  We were going to be working on engines so I wore something I wouldn’t mind getting ruined.”

“Sure,” Natasha said brightly.  “And you weren’t even thinking how the blue brings out your eyes or how tight it stretches over your shoulders.”

“Tasha…” He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.  “Uhm…I…” He sighed. “Could you…would you teach me to flirt?”

Natasha’s face lit up.  “You mean it?”

“Yeah, but subtle, okay?”  Steve let his shoulders drop in defeat.  “I’d rather not have everyone grinning knowingly every time they see me.”

“Subtle,” Natasha agreed.  “We can definitely do subtle.”

***

Steve peered out of the limo window as it pulled up to the huge mansion that was home of the Maria Stark Foundation.  Tonight was the annual Christmas Gala and Tony had invited the team to come hang out with the Beautiful People.  Steve was just cynical enough to think that they were actually being used as bait to get more of the Beautiful People to come out and cough up money, but he didn’t mind too much.  He’d read up on all the charity work that the Foundation did and had not found anything he wouldn’t be willing to lend his name to.

The limo pulled up to a stop and an attendant opened the door.  Steve couldn’t help but gasp at the cold air.  The temperature had been dropping again.  At least that gave them a good excuse to hurry past the paparazzi with just a friendly smile and wave.  He hated stopping to talk to those people and admitted to himself that it warmed him a bit to see them shivering.

Once in the building they were led to a coat room.  He relinquished his overcoat to another attendant and paused to check himself in the mirror.  He had to admit that the tuxedo looked nice on him, especially after all the work Tony’s tailor had done to make it fit so well.  Still, he didn’t think he looked nearly as good as Tony.  The billionaire had grown up wearing high dollar clothing and looked just as comfortable in the tux as he did his heavy metal t-shirts.  The only other person in the group who looked as at ease was Thor, but he was so self-confident that he’d probably look the same in Jane Foster’s evening gown.  Well, a much bigger version, but still. 

“You look fine,” Natasha informed him as he turned away from the mirror.

“Thanks.  You look amazing,” he replied.  She was wearing a purple evening gown that flowed around her like water.  He idly wondered how many she tried on before she found one she could fight in.  “So, Tony said we could bring dates.  Why didn’t you bring - ?”

“Sh!” She glared at him.  “We’re not dating.  And he’s in Brazil.”

An older woman with way too much energy for her petit frame came in about then and started fussing over Tony.  Steve gathered that she was the current chairperson of the Foundation.  She tugged Tony out of the room and the Avengers followed.  They got a quick tour of the main floor of the mansion, which gave Steve a chance to map the place out mentally and decide the best ways to get back to the coat room if there was an emergency.  Happy Hogan was supposed to deposit the uniforms and armor there just in case, because Evil was rude enough to interrupt even the most charitable of events.

After the tour Tony hooked Steve by the arm and led him to where the first of the guests were mingling.  “Come help me glad-hand people.  I think you know this routine.”

“Aw and here I thought you just wanted me to look pretty on your arm,” Steve said falling in step with his friend.

“Well, that, too.”  Tony grinned up at Steve. 

“So, where’s Pepper?”

“Germany.  Looks like we’re about to have a patent fight over there.  She thought she’d try to negotiate first.”  Tony made a face.  “Better her than me.  I told her she had to be home for Christmas, though.”

And then they were among the guests.  Steve really did know the routine – it was pretty much the same thing he’d done on his first year as Captain America.  Smile.  Shake Hands.  Thank people for their support.  It wasn’t the way he’d prefer to spend his evening, but it was for a good cause.  Tony introduced him to a lot of the movers and shakers of the city and he found the only real difference from these and the ones he’d met in the ‘40s was the cut of their clothes. 

About an hour in found him cornered by some Senator’s trophy wife.  Steve tried to maintain a polite smile as she continually invaded his personal space.  It did not help that she’d drenched herself in some perfume that made his nose itch.  He looked around the room and managed to make eye contact with Tony.  The inventor, bless his heart, quickly wound up the conversation he was having and bee-lined to Steve’s rescue.

“Cap!  There you are!”  Tony wrapped a hand around Steve’s bicep.  “I need your help with something.  Excuse me ma’am.”

She reluctantly moved back to allow Steve to follow Tony.  They stepped into the foyer just as someone opened the front door.  Steve shivered, but at least the cold air cleaned the perfume out of his sinuses.

“Thanks, Tony,” Steve sighed.  “I was afraid I was going to have to be rude.”

“Not a problem.  Here.”  Tony snatched two glasses of champagne off the tray of a passing waiter and handed one to Steve.  “I need a break, too.  Come on.” 

He led Steve up the grand staircase and down one hallway.  Just shy of the end of the hall, he opened a door and they entered a large bedroom.  Tony drained his glass, placed it on the nightstand and then sprawled out on his back across the bed which was covered with a Star Wars bedspread. 

Steve sipped his champagne and looked around.  The room had Sci-Fi movie posters on the walls.  Toys and tools were scattered around in equal number.  “Where are we?”

“My old bedroom,” Tony replied sitting back up.  “After my parents died, I stopped living here.  It was too big and there were too many memories.  A lot of them not so good.”

Steve idly picked up a book.  “You just left everything?”

“Yeah.”  Tony looked around.  “I just…” He shrugged.  “Life had changed too much.  Besides, the boarding school I was in wouldn’t have let me bring most of this stuff anyway.  Mom had left the seed money for the Foundation in her will, so I talked Stane into turning the mansion over to them.”

“And they kept this room like you left it?”  Steve wandered over to sit next to Tony. 

“Yeah.”  Tony smirked.  “Apparently, there is money to be made in showing off Tony Stark’s old room.”  He shoulder bumped Steve.  “Plus it gives me a place to drag pretty people to, when I get bored with one of our events.”

Steve flushed.  “Do I even want to know how many people you’ve seduced with Star Wars sheets?” 

“Hey, I single handedly made geeks hot, you know,” Tony said looking up at Steve. 

Steve smiled back.  “I’ll buy that.”  Was that subtle?  God, he hoped that was subtle.

Tony looked pleasantly surprised.  “Well…thanks.”

“So is my virtue in danger?” Steve teased.  “I mean, going by the looks I was getting, I’m pretty hot in this tux.”  Jesus, did he actually say that out loud? “And you’re plying me with alcohol, too.”  He drained his glass and put it on the nightstand next to Tony’s.

Tony stared openmouthed at him for a moment.  Then he shut his mouth and blushed. 

“Did I just do that?” Steve asked incredulously. “Did I just render Tony Stark speechless?”

“No,” Tony stated firmly.  “You most certainly did not.  I was merely…waiting.”

“For…?”

“Something.”  Tony stood up and faced Steve.  “Ready to go back down?”

Was he flustered?  Yes, he was definitely flustered.  “Tony, what did I do?”

“You….” There was a pause while Tony ran his hands through his hair thinking.  “You’re right.  You’re really hot in that tux.  But I am most decidedly not going to seduce you in my old bedroom.”

Steve leaned forward.  “So where are you going to seduce me?” he asked quietly.

Tony opened his mouth to answer, but at that point the alarm on both their cell phones went off.  The two men jumped and headed for the door.

“Fuck Evil,” Steve heard Tony mutter.

***

Steve was shivering hard as he hurried from the Quinjet to the tower.  He heartily agreed with Tony’s earlier ‘fuck Evil’ statement, even if he couldn’t say it out loud.  Not only did they have to battle off some weird slimy alien _thing_ , but in the middle of the fight, it had begun sleeting.  And tonight there was no Pepper Potts to make them cocoa.

He dropped his shield and turned to help Thor with Bruce just as the words “Welcome home!” rang out. He looked up from bundling up the scientist to find Jane Foster and Betty Ross still in their evening gowns carrying in trays laden with mugs.

Tony snatched up the first one, but the others were not far behind.  Steve hurriedly tugged his gloves off so he could accept his mug barehanded.  He was still shivering and nearly spilled it, but somehow managed to get it to his mouth.  Chicken soup.  He sucked the contents down in a couple of gulps.

“Is there more?” he asked Jane, somewhat plaintively. 

“Kitchen,” she replied just as Thor swept her up into his embrace.

The majority of the team moved into the communal kitchen for seconds.  As they began thawing out they started the routine check for injuries.  Steve found himself facing Tony.  “You okay?”

Tony nodded.  “Couple of bruises, but I managed to avoid the worst of it.  You?”

“Fine,” he answered.  “Didn’t get hit once.”

Tony frowned at him.  “You’re still shivering.”  Steve tried to duck back, but Tony got a hand on his face.  “Jesus!  You really are a Capsicle tonight.  Come with me.”  He grabbed Steve and started to drag him out of the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?” Natasha was beside them, a look of concern on her face.

“Not much insulation in the suit,” Steve managed to get out. 

“I’ve got him,” Tony told her.  “Stay here in case Fury calls.”

She nodded as Tony led Steve to the elevators.  A few minutes later and they were in the bathroom of Tony’s penthouse.  “Out of those things,” Tony commanded as he turned on the water in the _huge_ shower stall.  Steve fumbled with the clasp and zipper, but he was having trouble making his hands respond.  The world was getting fuzzy at the edges.

The next thing he knew Tony was in front of him jerking the zipper out of his hand.  “Are you with me Cap?”

“Body’s.  Trying to.  Shut down,” Steve forced out.  He struggled both to stay awake and to not panic.  “Cold.”

Tony grabbed him at that point and shoved him into the shower still mostly dressed.  Once he was standing in the middle of the warm water, Tony continued to strip him. 

“Still with me, Steve?”

“Still standing,” Steve mumbled.

“Where’s the undersuit?” Tony asked as he peeled off Steve’s t-shirt.

“Undersuit?”

“The thermal undersuit I made for cold weather fighting?” Tony sounded angry now.  “Did S.H.I.E.L.D. not give it to you?”

“Uhm…don’t remember.”  The shivering had lessened considerably, but Steve was still fighting to stay awake. 

“God _damn_ son-of-a…” Tony let out with a long string of profanity.  Steve ignored it.  Instead he found himself fascinated with the way Tony’s shirt had gone see through in the water, letting the blue of the arc reactor shine brightly through.  “Can you balance?” Tony finally asked. ”Let me get your boots off.”

Steve nodded and lifted a leg obediently.  Tony managed to get the boots off without toppling either of them over then started on Steve’s fly.

“Not the way I expected you to get my pants off,” Steve muttered. The warm water had done its job and he was no longer shivering.  His brain was slowly coming back online as the serum stopped trying for emergency shutdown.

Tony finished stripping Steve and then stood up in front of him.  Closely in front of him.  “And how,” he asked with a challenging tone “did you expect me to get your pants off?”

Steve blinked water out of his eyes and looked at Tony. _Oh, heck._ _That was my out loud voice._ The inventor was soaking wet and looking slightly worried.  _Well, in for a penny…_

Steve shrugged and grinned which didn’t seem to calm Tony any.  So, instead he leaned in and kissed him.  He pulled back when Tony jumped. 

“Did I just screw up?”

“Nooo,” Tony said slowly.  “You just moved my agenda up a few weeks.”

“Agenda?” Steve frowned in confusion.

“Yeah.  I was thinking I’d try to kiss you on New Year’s.”  Tony was no longer looking worried. 

“Oh.  Sorry.”  Steve was anything but sorry.

Tony shook his head and then reached up to tug Steve back down into another kiss.  Steve instinctively pulled the shorter man closer as his mouth sent fire all the way down to Steve’s toes.  After some time just kissing, Steve felt Tony moving oddly.  It took him a moment to realize that Tony was toeing off his shoes.  He then pulled away from Steve and started working on his cufflinks.  Steve reached forward and tried to unbutton the shirt, but it was held together with those stupid little studs that he had trouble with on a good day.  As the second cufflink clattered to the floor, Steve gave up struggling with the wet linen and just ripped the shirt open.

“Hot,” Tony said leaning up to catch Steve’s mouth again.  Steve eagerly kissed back while proceeding to rip the shirt apart.  However, when he reached for Tony’s pants his hands got slapped. 

“No, go dry off,” Tony commanded as he turned off the water.  “I want you in my bed.”

Steve stumbled out of the shower and grabbed a towel.  He dried himself hurriedly as he watched Tony peel off his wet pants.  He was pleased to see that, yes, Tony still had a great pair of legs.  Steve caught Tony up in the towel as he came out of the shower.  He kissed the shorter man and then started buffing him dry.  As he knelt to dry Tony’s ass and legs he leaned his head against Tony’s chest.  He felt Tony stiffen.

“It’s okay,” Steve assured the older man.  He rubbed his cheek against the arc reactor and felt Tony relax.

“Bed,” Tony said again. 

Steve stood and Tony grabbed a hand dragging him out of the bathroom.  They paused for another heated kiss before Tony shoved Steve back into the bed.  Steve laughed and pushed himself into the middle of it.  He stopped when he saw Tony’s face.

“What?”

“You are so fucking beautiful,” Tony said quietly.

“So are you,” Steve said in kind.  Then he gave Tony an impish grin.  “So, aren’t you supposed to be ravishing me or something?”

“Oh, yeah,” Tony said with a leer.  “That.”  He dropped onto the bed on all fours and then crawled up until he was even with Steve.  His mouth reattached to Steve’s and he dropped his crotch to rub against him. Steve groaned into his mouth as their erections slid against each other.

After a few minutes of this Tony broke the kiss.  “God, you are so hot.”  He began kissing his way down Steve’s jaw line.  “Tell me what you want, Baby.  I’ll do whatever you like.” 

Steve was breathing hard already.  His body felt on fire everywhere Tony touched him.  “I don’t…oh.”

“What, never been with a man?” Tony had worked his way down to Steve’s neck.  “It’s okay, Baby.  Just tell me what you like with a woman.”

“I…” Steve was having a very difficult time concentrating.  “I haven’t…”

Tony stopped what he was doing and pushed up on his arms so he could look down at Steve.  “You’re a virgin?”

Steve looked away and nodded. 

“And you’re trusting me to be your first?”  Steve closed his eyes afraid things were about to stop.

“Is this a deal breaker?”  Steve felt his world starting to spin.

“Steve, look at me.”  Once Steve opened his eyes and looked back up, Tony landed a hard kiss on his mouth.  “Best.”  He landed another kiss on Steve’s neck. “Christmas.” A kiss on the sternum.  “Present.”  A kiss on the navel.  “Evah!”  He emphasized the last word with a swipe of his tongue up Steve’s cock.

That sent a jolt through him.  “Tony!”

Tony gave Steve a wicked grin as he settled between the larger man’s thighs.  “Trust me?”

Steve was up on his elbows looking down at Tony.  He nodded.  Tony’s grin got wider.  He leaned back down and nuzzled Steve’s balls. 

“God, you smell good,” he mumbled.  He began slowly licking up Steve’s cock again.  When he reached the head he drew it into his mouth and sucked lightly.  His right hand came around the shaft and stroked firmly.

Steve thought he was going to explode.  The heat of Tony’s mouth and hand was driving him wild.  He lay there panting, his eyes locked on Tony.  The older man grinned around his cock and then began to slide his mouth downwards.

Steve fell back with a groan.  His brain had pretty much gone offline at this point, but his body was screaming in pleasure.  His back arched and he bucked slightly.

Tony jerked back quickly.  “Easy, Baby.  You have to hold still or you’ll choke me,” he said quietly.

“Sor…sorry,” Steve panted out.  “Tony, _please_!”

As Tony went back to work, Steve reached out to him.  His hands stroked Tony’s head and shoulders as he tried to keep himself grounded enough not to move his hips.  Tony’s ministrations began getting faster and harder.  Steve could feel the tension curling up at the base of his spine.

“Tony…I…Oh, _fu-!_ ” The orgasm hit like a freight train.  He gripped Tony’s shoulders and held tightly, only vaguely aware that Tony’s mouth didn’t relinquish his cock until he’d finished.

As he lay panting, Tony crawled back up until they were facing.  He was grinning smugly.

“You said fuck,” he teased.

“Uh-uh,” Steve denied between pants.  “I don’t curse.  Must have been you.”

Tony laughed and gave him a quick kiss.  “My mouth was full.”

“Oh, yeah,” Steve opened his eyes and grinned at his lover.  “Maybe it was me.”  Steve pulled Tony down for another kiss and running his hands down the warm skin on his back and sides.

Tony broke the kiss.  “My turn.” 

Steve nodded nervously.  “Okay.  Tell me what to do.”  He started to sit up, but Tony pushed him back.

“It’s okay, Baby.  Just a hand job.  I won’t make you go down on me the first time out.”  Tony lay down beside Steve.  Steve turned to face him, taking Tony’s cock tentatively in his hand.  Tony sighed happily.  “You know how to do this. Just do what you do to yourself.”

Steve took a firmer hold on Tony’s cock and stroked up and down once.  “You’re circumcised?” he asked curiously.

“Mmmmhmmm.  Most men my age are.  Don’t stop.”  Tony leaned in and began nibbling on Steve’s lower lip. 

Steve leaned into the kiss and continued to work on Tony.  It wasn’t really that much different aside from the lack of foreskin.  The next time his hand reached the top of the stroke, he ran his thumb over the head causing Tony to hum into his mouth.  His confidence building, he pulled Tony closer and sped up slightly.  That got a few more noises, which did lovely things to Steve’s libido. 

Tony broke the kiss.  “You’re erect again already?”  he panted.

“Is that a problem?” Steve asked nuzzling into Tony’s neck.

“Oh, hell no!”  Tony said enthusiastically.  “Just unexpected.”  He stilled Steve’s hand. “Hold up.  I want to come with you inside me.”

“’kay.”  Steve watched Tony launch himself at the nightstand and pull out a box and a tube of something.  “And how does that work, exactly?”

“Up the ass,” Tony explained pushing Steve onto his back.  He straddled Steve, dropping a wrapped condom on his chest and opening the tube.  “Give me your hand.”

Steve did and Tony squeezed a large dollop of clear gel onto two of Steve’s fingers. 

“Lubricant,” Tony explained.  “Otherwise, there’s too much friction and it’s painful.  Okay, pay attention.”  Tony pulled Steve’s hand up between his legs.  “Here’s your mark.  Smear the lube around the entrance a little and then push them into me slowly.”  Steve did so and watched Tony’s face light up.  “God, your hands!  Move…uh…in and ooouut!  Yeah, like that, Baby!  Twist a little…oh, _fuck_ yes!” 

Steve gained confidence with every moan and profane word that came out of Tony’s mouth.  And oh, didn’t Tony look good with his eyes screwed closed and his face awash with pleasure.  He reached up and stroked Tony’s weeping cock again.  Tony’s eyes sprang open.

“No, wait!”  Tony gripped Steve’s wrist.

“Did I do something wrong?”  Steve forehead wrinkled in concern.

“No, Baby, you are very much doing things right.  But this isn’t how I want my early Christmas present.  Let go.”

Tony let go of Steve’s wrist and snatched up the condom packet.  He leered down at Steve as he opened it.  “You are gonna love this, Baby.  I guarantee.” 

“You’ve not been wrong, this far,” Steve agreed.  He ran his hands up Tony’s thighs. 

Tony laughed and began rolling the condom down Steve’s erection.  He added a bit more lube and then moved up to straddle it.  He placed his left hand on Steve’s chest and used his right to guide Steve into place.  They locked eyes and slowly Tony lowered himself.  They gasped in unison when Tony hit bottom.  Tony took a moment to pet Steve’s stomach lightly and then began moving himself slowly up and down.  “Stroke me, Steve.”

Steve nodded and took Tony’s cock in his hand again.  He automatically matched the movement of his hand to the rhythm Tony had set.  “Tony…”

“Just like that, Baby.  Oh, _man_ , you’re a quick study…shitshitshit, rock your hips.  Yeeeeaaah, just like that!  Faster…”  Steve couldn’t take his eyes off Tony’s face.  Tony’s eyes were closed now.  His babble was quickly running into an incoherent mix of profanity and groans.  Then suddenly “ _Steve!_ ” and Tony hit orgasm. 

Steve didn’t stop moving until Tony collapsed on top of him.  Then it was only a pause before he rolled over on top.  He couldn’t think, just let his body run on instinct as he thrust again and again.  He did notice Tony’s arms going around him and Tony muttering encouragement into his ear.  Then a tidal wave hit him. 

They lay still together, both trying to catch their breath.  Then Tony, of course, broke the silence.  “Shit, I just lost fifty bucks.”

“You know,” Steve said shifting off of his lover.  He wiped at the cooling semen on his chest and stomach with the sheet.  “I was under the impression that pillow talk was supposed to be sweeter than that.”  He fumbled with the condom.

Tony laughed and helped Steve.  “You expect sweet out of me?”  He rolled to one side, disposed of the condom and then rolled back into Steve.  “Come on.  Cuddle,” he said tugging at Steve’s arm.  “Only don’t tell Pepper I wanted to cuddle or there will be no more oral sex for you until she stops giving me shit about it.”

Steve wrapped himself around Tony with a grin.  “So, how did you just lose fifty bucks?”

“Clint.  He said you were a virgin and I said you couldn’t be considering all those dancing girls you hung out with on the bond tours.  One of them had to have tripped you up.”

Steve chuckled.  “A couple of them tried.  I tended to panic and run.”

“Okay, so what about you and Natasha disappearing into each other’s apartments on a regular basis?” 

“We’re just friends, Tony.  And no benefits.”  Steve chuckled.  “Usually we’re gossiping or watching action movies or just talking about life.”

“Hmmm.”  Tony lay quiet for a bit.  “So, monogamy, right?”

“Huh?”  Steve had started to drift off.

“Well, I figure you’re an old-fashioned type of guy, so you’ll want to be exclusive.  I can do that.  Did that with Pepper and found it was actually nicer than sleeping around.”  He patted Steve’s arm affectionately.  “Mind you, I’ll still flirt, because that’s just me.  And sometimes I’ll stare, because, hey it doesn’t matter where you get your appetite, right?  Just don’t be jealous, because I’ll always come home for dinner.”

“So, you want a relationship?” Steve asked hesitantly.

“Isn’t that what you want?”

“Yes.”  Steve was wide awake now.

“Well, that’s settled, then.”   Tony patted his arm again and sighed.  “We should probably get dressed and get back to the rest of the team.  Otherwise Natasha’s going to come up here to find out what I did with her girlfriend.”

“Yeah.” Steve hugged him and then got out of bed. “Except that I don’t have any clothes up here.” 

“You know, I don’t think anyone on the team would mind you wandering around the tower naked,” Tony said with a leer. 

“But I’ll get cold,” Steve replied.

“Ah.”  Tony disappeared into the bathroom and came out with a big red robe which he held open for Steve.  It was just big enough to get Steve to his room without embarrassment. 

“There,” Tony said wrapping Steve up.  “I’ll keep you warm.”


End file.
